The Hunger Games vs. Battle Royale: What all the fuss is about.

Something that has inevitably come up in online fan communities since the release and success of the first Hunger Games film is the apparently undeniable similarity to a Japanese series of similar themes called Battle Royale. This franchise also started out as a book and was made into a film in 1999, and I don’t know if it’s because I started participating in online fan communities in 2003, but I had definitely heard of this series and know already how popular it is not only in Japan, but in the U.S. and other Western countries as well. Everyone who’s even mildly engaged with fandom has heard of Battle Royale, and for the most part, everyone knows what it’s about: young teens who are made by a corrupt and dictatorial government to fight to the death on an island-turned-battle-arena, in which only one winner can emerge. The whole thing is made to look more perverse by the fact that the kids are wearing what looks like traditional Japanese school uniforms worn from elementary school until high school, and in all of the images and trailers advertising the franchise, their white collared shirts and pressed beige skirts or shorts are spattered with bright red blood. Essentially, it’s an image that sticks in your brain, so if you ever see a photo or comic of a Japanese school girl looking morbid and covered in the blood of her peers, you immediately associate it with Battle Royale.

So now, what with the Hunger Games movie breaking all of these box office records and the corresponding novels flying off the shelves as a result of its success, fans of Battle Royale are getting in a tizzy.  Oh my god, The Hunger Games is such a total rip off of Battle Royale, they’re saying. What a lie, I can’t believe Suzanne Collins is claiming she’s never heard of it, what a freaking outrage. This is just Western media and Hollywood ripping off Asian cultural products and not giving them any credit, like they always do.

Now, I’m not going to totally dismiss any of those claims. First of all, yes, the two plots are similar. As one enraged Battle Royale fan succinctly puts:

Both movies feature a corrupt totalitarian government that places children on an isolated island to fight brutally to the death, until one last winner emerges. They implant tracking devices into the children and fill the island with cameras, which are observed by a control room that airs the competition to the general population. A female protagonist ultimately triumphs with the help of a boy with whom she develops a relationship.

This is true. However, this concept has existed since gladiatorial combat in ancient Rome. And it has since been adapted to a more family friendly if not less distasteful form through professional wrestling of the flashy, gaudy WWE variety. Honestly, the idea behind the franchise’s success is in itself not that original—people just really get a kick out of seeing fellow human beings duke it out on the stage or arena. In a way, organized competitive sport amounts to the same thing. Do you know why the Olympics were invented? To replace WAR. So that nations would have a friendly way of displaying their prowess and mastery of the physical human form and competing for superiority in a way that didn’t involve the mindless slaughtering of thousands of people. So honestly, Battle Royale fans, get over yourselves. You’re not that original.

Second, as I said before, Battle Royale is a series that is KNOWN in online fandom, and thus potentially everywhere with access to the internet. Regardless of whether or not Battle Royale was blocked from U.S. distribution until recently, it’s been circling on the internet since 1999. I’m sure I could pull the movie up on YouTube right now if I wanted to. And if the creators of Battle Royale are really going to complain The Hunger Games being more popular internationally than BR, they shouldn’t have limited distribution in the first place! Japan’s culture industries for some reason are always hoarding distribution rights and calling up copyright laws in order to protect their precious intellectual property, for reasons I’m sure have to do with them being a naturally xenophobic society and wanting to keep their culture “pure” from Western perversions. Ugh, give me a break. You can’t complain if you’re unwilling to share your media products with the rest of the world who would gladly enjoy and pay for them.

But I don’t think it’s the creators of BR who are really complaining, it’s just the fans who want something to be indignant about. And it’s true, in the past, Hollywood has adapted Asian stories and many Western consumers of the U.S. adaptations have not consumed nor will they ever consume the originals—something which also has to do with Americans being rather ethnocentric (the rest of the world is used to watching Hollywood blockbusters with subtitles in their own language, whereas it’s harder to get an American to watch a foreign movie with English subtitles). But at least these films (21, The Departed, The Eye, The Ring, Avatar the Last Airbender, to name a few) admit that they were influenced by the original Asian cultural products. What the fans are taking issue with is Collins’ denial of ever having heard of BR. And I actually agree with them on this one. As original as her characters and universe that she wrote about may be, there’s no need denying your knowledge of the Japanese franchise’s existence. Because first of all, I’m not sure I could believe that, for the reasons listed above, and second because doing so just makes you seem less comfortable in your assertion that these really are your own, original characters. And admitting to knowing of BR would actually strengthen your argument because it would show that you’re not afraid of people harassing you about copying, or stealing, simply because it’s not true.

I’m not sure why I felt I had to make this post, maybe just to show that fans can spin things in whatever direction they want. There’s a host of articles and blog posts written on the subject, by BR fans hating on THG, by THG fans adamantly defending the American series, to fans of both trying to mediate between them. If anything, the debate has made for interesting discussion which only adds to wealth of internet knowledge on both The Hunger Games and the Battle Royale series, which could only pique the interest of fans of one series to the other.

Fan-created works: creative form of flattery, or vile genre which impinges on the financial livelihood of original authors?

'Fan fiction' in the modern sense of the term has supposedly been around since the 60s, when fans would write stories borrowing the characters and universe from Star Trek and publish them for other fans’ enjoyment in fanzines—which were sold for a small amount in order to pay for printing costs, but never for profit. When the World Wide Web went into common household use in the 90s, needless to say the quantity of fan fiction produced and consumed all over the world and in all different languages increased exponentially. Suddenly there was a whole world of potential readers towards whom writers could gear their craft, and they didn’t even have to create their own original characters or elaborate universes to gain audiences’ attention—they already had it just by engaging with content that was already known and loved by fans potentially around the globe. And not only did the range of fan fiction produced broaden, as stories derived from existing books, comics, television shows, movies, video games, music groups, and plays popped up, but I’m also going to go out and say that the age group probably widened as well, especially as the internet became more user-friendly and younger generations grew up immersed in the digitally networked society.

Now there is no one centralized archive where fan fiction is published and consumed, so like anything else on the net I suppose, it’s impossible to really measure how much there is. But I think it’s safe to say that at least a substantial volume of cyberspace is occupied by this particular genre of fan mediated literary content. And as society evolves into a state where being online and connected is increasingly essential not just for entertainment purposes, but for keeping up with social and professional life as well, what was once a negligible online subculture is starting to be noticed and addressed in the mainstream. And some of the mainstream producers of content, and often the original content that the fan mediated products such as fan fiction, art, comics, and videos are based on, are not happy with what is transpiring (and has been, supposedly for the past 50 years).

Flavorwire’s article on the subject mentions several prominent authors who have spoken out on the issue. George R.R. Martin, writer of the best-selling Game of Thrones series which has blown up in recent months and has now been adapted for premium cable-television on HBO, author of the wildly popular Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice, fantasy and science fiction author Ursula LeGuin, Ender’s Game author Oren Scott Card, author of the Outlander series Diana Gabaldon, and science-fiction author Charlie Stross, to name a few, are vehemently opposed to the idea of fan fiction involving their characters, for legal, monetary, and personal reasons (LeGuin even mentioned feeling personally violated—oh jeez, give me a break).

On the other hand, J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer, authors of the Harry Potter and Twilight series, respectively, are more tolerant of the fan practice, with J.K.R. even saying she was glad her stories could inspire young people to engage with her work in a personally creative way. But something else to take into consideration is that these two women are behind the most popular franchises on the current children/young adult market, making them what, richer than the Queen of England now? And really, they probably have more to gain from young fans spreading enthusiasm for their work over the internet because at this point all it could do is bring them more and more dedicated fans, whereas some of the still successful-but-not-filthy-rich authors, like Scott Card, see fan created works employing his characters as something that could act as a substitute for buying his works and which can encroach on his livelihood.

Personally, I don’t really have a strong opinion. I think the bottom line is that whether you approve of it or not, people are going write fan fiction. And instead of bitching about it, authors should just embrace it and be flattered that characters and worlds they created could be so interesting and important to someone that they would want to engage with the content in a way that allows them to show their appreciation for the existing media text and dialogue with others to bring up conversations that might not have taken place without the fan-mediated activity. That being said, I’m not sure how much authors stand to lose financially from people reading fan fiction rather the original works, but I’m going to go out on what I think is not that long of a limb and say that if people are reading and writing fan fiction derived from your story, they probably have already bought and read the original stuff, which is the reason for which they want to expand on and imagine a continuation or alternate retelling of it.

All they’re doing is loving your work, Author X, and what with the media increasingly encouraging participatory media culture as an interactive marketing strategy (“Did you like today’s episode, what do you think should have happened instead? Tell us at our website…” “Think you can make a better video commercial? Create one and post it on YouTube, winners will receive…” “Go online and vote now for your favorite contestant!”) it’s probably a lost cause to try to get them to stop—not to mention it makes you seem like an inflexible, self-important fuddy-duddy who doesn’t understand the direction pop culture and entertainment is going nowadays. These kids are just trying to have fun, hang out and talk with others about your book/movie/series/game/what have you; no one is trying to make a profit here. And who could? The rest of the fan community would be up in arms about it. If fans are anything, it's loyal to the creators of their preferred media texts. So don't worry, and let digitally connected fans be fans and do what they do best: dish and gush and gossip about characters who don't exist in the living world but have somehow taken on significance in people's lives. Honestly, you should be so flattered.

For more information: 

“Abusing the People of Westeros: Famous Authors on Fan-Fiction” by Emily Temple

“The Boy Who Lived Forever” by Lev Grossman